Real time examination of conditions of physical machines using augmented reality in smarter data center

ABSTRACT

A system for facilitating examination of conditions across physical machines using augmented reality generates an overlay of information about application structure across physical systems, such as physical systems located within a data center. Additionally, the system for facilitating examination of application structure across physical machines using augmented reality overlays this information about application structure using imaging captured through a camera, such as a camera associated with a tablet type or smart phone type computing device.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present disclosure relates in general to the field of computers andsimilar technologies, and in particular to software utilized in thisfield. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to realtime examination of conditions across physical machines using augmentedreality.

2. Description of the Related Art

With the explosive growth in the use of computers to host businessapplications, Internet Websites, etc., a need to build bigger datacenters to house computers and related hardware has also grownexponentially. Data centers (also known as “server farms”) can housethousands of computers and related equipments such as networking gears,etc. A data center or a server farm is a facility to house a number ofcomputer systems and related equipment. For example, a businessorganization may house all or some of their computer servers (i.e.,hosts) at one physical location to manage these computer serversefficiently. The computer servers in a data center are typically coupledto users of the computer servers via the Internet or Wide Area Network(WAN) or Local Area Network (LAN) or any other similar type of medium.These computer servers are often used to host critical businessapplications. Because the business operations of these businessorganizations critically depend on the continuous availability of thecomputer servers, special attention is often paid to manage data centersto prevent or minimize server down times. Information technology (IT)management of the computing resources in a data center is important forensuring high availability of computing resources.

One issue relating to data centers is that IT support personnel do notnecessarily have knowledge of which application are executing onparticular devices within the data center. In certain known datacenters, the support personnel might be provided with access to a staticoperations dashboard to obtain information relating to this type ofdata. Additionally, in certain know data centers, the IT supportpersonnel examine conditions via a Graphical User Interface (GUI) orCommand Line Interface (CLI). Additionally, data center IT personnelsuch as IT architects and managers may not have any knowledge of whatapplication stacks have been dispatched to physical machines in avirtualized or physical mode as they view the physical machines rackedin the data center.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure includes, but is not limited to, a method, systemand computer-usable medium for facilitating examination of conditionsacross physical machines using augmented reality.

More specifically in various embodiments, the system for facilitatingexamination of conditions across physical machines using augmentedreality generates an overlay of information about conditions acrossphysical systems, such as physical systems located within a data center.Additionally, the system for facilitating examination of conditionsacross physical machines using augmented reality overlays thisinformation about conditions using imaging captured through a camera,such as a camera associated with a tablet type or smart phone typecomputing device. Additionally, the system for facilitating examinationof conditions across physical machines using augmented reality displaysthe information about the conditions along with the associated physicalsystems via a display of the tablet type or smart phone type computingdevice. In certain embodiments, the imaging can be in real time. When anIT support personnel is actually viewing a device or a plurality ofdevices within a data center, an image of the device or devices iseasily obtained and displayed via the display device along withinformation about the conditions of the physical systems being viewed,with the overlay of the information displayed. The combination of theimage of the physical device along with the information about theconditions of the physical systems is referred to as an augmentedreality of the physical systems. Thus, the IT support personnel canapproach a physical device or a plurality of physical devices and obtaindetailed information about the physical system and conditions. Such asystem provides a naturally intuitive system which allows the ITpersonnel to monitor the system.

Additionally, in certain embodiments, the system for facilitatingexamination of conditions across physical machines using augmentedreality defines presentation of the software stacks that are currentlyexecuting on the physical hardware in a virtualized and/or cloudcomputing environment. Additionally, in certain embodiments, the systemfor facilitating examination of conditions across physical machinesusing augmented reality defines presentation of information regarding aphysical installed hardware environment. Additionally, in certainembodiments, the computing device continuously obtains information aboutthe physical devices while in proximity with the physical device towhich the camera is directed. Additionally, in certain embodiments, thecomputing device then identifies the physical machine being viewed via aunique identifier (ID) of the physical device such as a quick response(QR) type code which is visible on the physical machine. The system forfacilitating examination of conditions across physical machines usingaugmented reality then accesses monitoring software, and obtains dataabout the status of the physical device, the applications executing onthe physical device, and the status of those applications. Additionally,in certain embodiments, the physical device being viewed is anofficially registered end point of the data center pool of assets sothat the information associated with the physical device can be obtainedregarding internal software stacks. The system for facilitatingexamination of conditions across physical machines using augmentedreality then uses this information to render an overlay over the imageof whatever is being observed via the computing device and displays thedata that was obtained

The above, as well as additional purposes, features, and advantages ofthe present disclosure will become apparent in the following detailedwritten description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Selected embodiments of the present disclosure may be understood, andits numerous objects, features and advantages obtained, when thefollowing detailed description is considered in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary data processing system in which the presentdisclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a smart phone or tablet type dataprocessing system.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a system for facilitating examination ofconditions across physical machines using augmented reality.

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of the operation of a system for facilitatingexamination of conditions across physical machines using augmentedreality.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplative diagrammatic view of a representationgenerated by a system for facilitating examination of conditions acrossphysical machines using augmented reality.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method, system and computer-usable medium are disclosed forfacilitating examination of conditions across physical machines usingaugmented reality. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, thepresent disclosure may be embodied as a method, system, or computerprogram product. Accordingly, embodiments of the disclosure may beimplemented entirely in hardware, entirely in software (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or in an embodimentcombining software and hardware. These various embodiments may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module,” or “system,”Furthermore, the present disclosure may take the form of a computerprogram product on a computer-usable storage medium havingcomputer-usable program code embodied in the medium.

Any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium may beutilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, forexample, hut not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device,or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) ofthe computer-readable medium would include the following: an electricalconnection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, ahard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), anoptical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), anoptical storage device, a transmission media such as those supportingthe Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. In thecontext of this document, a computer-usable or computer-readable mediummay be any medium that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, ortransport the program for use by or in connection with the instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device. The computer usable program codemay be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but notlimited to the Internet, wireline, optical fiber cable, radio frequency(RF), etc.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentdisclosure may be written in an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However, the computer programcode for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may also bewritten in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the“C” programming language or similar programming languages. The programcode may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user'scomputer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may beconnected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Embodiments of the disclosure are described below with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of thedisclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary data processing system 102 inwhich the present disclosure may be utilized. The data processing system102 includes a processor unit 104 that is coupled to a system bus 106. Avideo adapter 108, which controls a display 110, is also coupled tosystem bus 106. System bus 106 is coupled via a bus bridge 112 to anInput/Output (I/O) bus 114. An I/O interface 116 is coupled to I/O bus114. The I/O interface 116 affords communication with various I/Odevices, including a keyboard 118, a mouse 120, a Compact Disk-Read OnlyMemory (CD-ROM) drive 122, a floppy disk drive 124, and a flash drivememory 126. The format of the ports connected to I/O interface 116 maybe any known to those skilled in the art of computer architecture,including but not limited to Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports.

Data processing system 102 is able to communicate with a serviceprovider server 152 via a network 128 using a network interface 130,which is coupled to system bus 106. Network 128 may be an externalnetwork such as the Internet, or an internal network such as an EthernetNetwork or a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Using network 128, clientdata processing system 102 is able to use the present disclosure toaccess service provider server 152.

A hard drive interface 132 is also coupled to system bus 106. Hard driveinterface 132 interfaces with a hard drive 134. In a preferredembodiment, hard drive 134 populates a system memory 136, which is alsocoupled to system bus 106. Data that populates system memory 136includes an operating system 138 and software programs 144 of the dataprocessing system 102.

OS 138 includes a shell 140 for providing transparent user access toresources such as software programs 144. Generally, shell 140 is aprogram that provides an interpreter and an interface between the userand the operating system. More specifically, shell 140 executes commandsthat are entered into a command line user interface or from a file.Thus, shell 140 (as it is called in UNIX®), also called a commandprocessor in Windows®, is generally the highest level of the operatingsystem software hierarchy and serves as a command interpreter. The shellprovides a system prompt, interprets commands entered by keyboard,mouse, or other user input media, and sends the interpreted command(s)to the appropriate lower levels of the operating system (e.g., a kernel142) for processing. While shell 140 generally is a text-based,line-oriented user interface, the present disclosure can also supportother user interface modes, such as graphical, voice, gestural, etc.

As depicted, OS 138 also includes kernel 142, which includes lowerlevels of functionality for OS 138, including essential servicesrequired by other parts of OS 138 and software programs 144, includingmemory management, process and task management, disk management, andmouse and keyboard management.

Software programs 144 may include a browser 146 and email client 148.Browser 146 includes program modules and instructions enabling a WorldWide Web (WWW) client (i.e., client data processing system 102) to sendand receive network messages to the Internet using HyperText TransferProtocol (HTTP) messaging, thus enabling communication with serviceprovider server 152. Software programs 144 also include a conditionsexamination facilitation module 150. The conditions examinationfacilitation module 150 includes code for implementing the processesdescribed in FIGS. 2 through 5 described hereinbelow. In one embodiment,data processing system 102 is able to download the conditionsexamination facilitation module 150 from a service provider server 152.

The conditions examination facilitation module 150 generates an overlayof information about conditions across physical systems, such asphysical systems located within a data center. Additionally, theconditions examination facilitation module 150 overlays this informationabout conditions using imaging captured through a camera, such as acamera associated with a tablet type or smart phone type data processingsystem. Additionally, the conditions examination facilitation module 150displays the information about the conditions along with the associatedphysical systems via a display of the tablet type or smart phone typecomputing device. In certain embodiments, the imaging can be in realtime. When an IT support personnel is actually viewing a device or aplurality of devices within a data center, an image of the device ordevices is easily obtained and displayed via the display device alongwith information about the conditions of the physical systems beingviewed, with the overlay of the information displayed. The combinationof the image of the physical device along with the information about theconditions of the physical systems is referred to as an augmentedreality of the physical systems. Thus, the IT support personnel canapproach a physical device or a plurality of physical devices and obtaindetailed information about the physical system and conditions. Such asystem provides a naturally intuitive system which allows the ITpersonnel to monitor the system.

The hardware elements depicted in data processing system 102 are notintended to be exhaustive, but rather are representative to highlightcomponents used by the present disclosure. For instance, data processingsystem 102 may include alternate memory storage devices such as magneticcassettes, Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs), Bernoulli cartridges, and thelike. These and other variations are intended to be within the spiritand scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of an exemplary tablet or smart phone typedata processing system also sometimes referred to as a client node.While various components of a client node are shown, various embodimentsof the client node may include a subset of the listed components oradditional components not listed. As shown in FIG. 2, the client node202 includes a DSP 202 and a memory 204. As shown, the client node 202may further include an antenna and front end unit 206, a radio frequency(RF) transceiver 208, an analog baseband processing unit 210, amicrophone 212, an earpiece speaker 214, a headset port 216, a bus 218,such as a system bus or an input/output (I/O) interface bus, a removablememory card 220, a universal serial bus (USB) port 222, a short rangewireless communication sub-system 224, an alert 226, a keypad 228, aliquid crystal display (LCD) 230, which may include a touch sensitivesurface, an LCD controller 232, a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera234, a camera controller 236, and a global positioning system (GPS)sensor 238, and a power management module 240 operably coupled to apower storage unit, such as a battery 242. In various embodiments, theclient node 202 may include another kind of display that does notprovide a touch sensitive screen. In one embodiment, the DSP 202communicates directly with the memory 204 without passing through theinput/output interface 218.

In various embodiments, the DSP 202 or some other form of controller orcentral processing unit (CPU) operates to control the various componentsof the client node 202 in accordance with embedded software or firmwarestored in memory 204 or stored in memory contained within the DSP 202itself. In addition to the embedded software or firmware, the DSP 202may execute other applications stored in the memory 204 or madeavailable via information carrier media such as portable data storagemedia like the removable memory card 220 or via wired or wirelessnetwork communications. The application software may comprise a compiledset of machine-readable instructions that configure the DSP 202 toprovide the desired functionality, or the application software may behigh-level software instructions to be processed by an interpreter orcompiler to indirectly configure the DSP 202.

The antenna and front end unit 206 may be provided to convert betweenwireless signals and electrical signals, enabling the client node 202 tosend and receive information from a cellular network or some otheravailable wireless communications network or from a peer client node202. In an embodiment, the antenna and front end unit 106 may includemultiple antennas to support beam forming and/or multiple input multipleoutput (MIMO) operations. As is known to those skilled in the art, MIMOoperations may provide spatial diversity which can be used to overcomedifficult channel conditions or to increase channel throughput.Likewise, the antenna and front end unit 206 may include antenna timingor impedance matching components, RF power amplifiers, or low noiseamplifiers.

In various embodiments, the RF transceiver 208 provides frequencyshifting, converting received RF signals to baseband and convertingbaseband transmit signals to RF. In some descriptions a radiotransceiver or RF transceiver may be understood to include other signalprocessing functionality such as modulation/demodulation,coding/decoding, interleaving/deinterleaving, spreading/despreading,inverse fast Fourier transforming (IFFT)/fast Fourier transforming(FFT), cyclic prefix appending/removal, and other signal processingfunctions. For the purposes of clarity, the description here separatesthe description of this signal processing from the RF and/or radio stageand conceptually allocates that signal processing to the analog basebandprocessing unit 210 or the DSP 202 or other central processing unit. Insome embodiments, the RF Transceiver, portions of the Antenna and FrontEnd 206, and the analog base band processing unit 210 may be combined inone or more processing units and/or application specific integratedcircuits (ASICs).

The analog baseband processing unit 210 may provide various analogprocessing of inputs and outputs, for example analog processing ofinputs from the microphone 212 and the headset 216 and outputs to theearpiece 214 and the headset 216. To that end, the analog basebandprocessing unit 210 may have ports for connecting to the built-inmicrophone 212 and the earpiece speaker 214 that enable the client node202 to be used as a cell phone. The analog baseband processing unit 210may further include a port for connecting to a headset or otherhands-free microphone and speaker configuration. The analog basebandprocessing unit 210 may provide digital-to-analog conversion in onesignal direction and analog-to-digital conversion in the opposing signaldirection. In various embodiments, at least some of the functionality ofthe analog baseband processing unit 210 may be provided by digitalprocessing components, for example by the DSP 202 or by other centralprocessing units.

The DSP 202 may perform modulation/demodulation, coding/decoding,interleaving/deinterleaving, spreading/despreading, inverse fast Fouriertransforming (IFFT)/fast Fourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefixappending/removal, and other signal processing functions associated withwireless communications. In an embodiment, tier example in a codedivision multiple access (CDMA) technology application, for atransmitter function the DSP 202 may perform modulation, coding,interleaving, and spreading, and for a receiver function the DSP 202 mayperform despreading, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. Inanother embodiment, for example in an orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplex access (OFDMA) technology application, for the transmitterfunction the DSP 202 may perform modulation, coding, interleaving,inverse fast Fourier transforming, and cyclic prefix appending, and fora receiver function the DSP 202 may perform cyclic prefix removal, fastFourier transforming, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. Inother wireless technology applications, yet other signal processingfunctions and combinations of signal processing functions may beperformed by the DSP 202.

The DSP 202 may communicate with a wireless network via the analogbaseband processing unit 210. In some embodiments, the communication mayprovide Internet connectivity, enabling a user to gain access to contenton the Internet and to send and receive email or text messages. Theinput/output interface 218 interconnects the DSP 202 and variousmemories and interfaces. The memory 204 and the removable memory card220 may provide software and data to configure the operation of the DSP202. Among the interfaces may be the USB interface 222 and the shortrange wireless communication sub-system 224. The USB interface 222 maybe used to charge the client node 202 and may also enable the clientnode 202 to function as a peripheral device to exchange information witha personal computer or other computer system. The short range wirelesscommunication sub-system 224 may include an infrared port, a Bluetoothinterface, an IEEE 802.11 compliant wireless interface, or any othershort range wireless communication sub-system, which may enable theclient node 202 to communicate wirelessly with other nearby client nodesand access nodes.

The input/output interface 218 may further connect the DSP 202 to thealert 226 that, when triggered, causes the client node 202 to provide anotice to the user, for example, by ringing, playing a melody, orvibrating. The alert 226 may serve as a mechanism for alerting the userto any of various events such as an incoming call, a new text message,and an appointment reminder by silently vibrating, or by playing aspecific pre-assigned melody for a particular caller.

The keypad 228 couples to the DSP 202 via the I/O interface 218 toprovide one mechanism for the user to make selections, enterinformation, and otherwise provide input to the client node 202. Thekeyboard 228 may be a full or reduced alphanumeric keyboard such asQWERTY, Dvorak, AZERTY and sequential types, or a traditional numerickeypad with alphabet letters associated with a telephone keypad. Theinput keys may likewise include a trackwheel, an exit or escape key, atrackball, and other navigational or functional keys, which may beinwardly depressed to provide further input function. Another inputmechanism may be the LCD 230, which may include touch screen capabilityand also display text and/or graphics to the user. The LCD controller232 couples the DSP 202 to the LCD 230.

The camera 234, if equipped, enables the client node 202 to take digitalpictures. The DSP 202 communicates with the camera 234 via the cameracontroller 236. In certain embodiments, a camera operating according toa technology such as Charge Coupled Device (CCD) cameras may beemployed. The GPS sensor 238 is coupled to the DSP 202 to decode globalpositioning system signals or other navigational signals, therebyenabling the client node 202 to determine its position. Various otherperipherals may also be included to provide additional functions, suchas radio and television reception.

Referring to FIG. 3, a block diagram of a conditions examinationfacilitation module 150 is shown. More specifically a conditionsexamination facilitation module 150 includes an overlay module 310 whichgenerates an overlay of information about conditions across physicalsystems, such as physical systems located within a data center. Theoverlay module obtains information in real time about a physical deviceor devices via an I/O device of the smart phone or tablet type dataprocessing system 202 while being in proximity with the physical deviceor devices. The I/O device may be for example a camera 234, a GPS device238, a short range wireless communication subsystem 224 or any otherappropriate I/O device. The information can include a unique identifier,an image of the device, radio frequency (RF) identification information,a physical location, etc. Additionally, the application overlay module310 overlays this information about the physical device with conditionsusing imaging captured through a camera, such as camera 234 of the smartphone or tablet type data processing system 202.

The conditions examination facilitation module 150 also includes adisplay module 320 which displays the information about the conditionsalong with the associated physical systems via a display of the tablettype or smart phone type computing device. In certain embodiments, theimaging can be in real time. The conditions examination facilitationmodule 150 also receives conditions information about a device from adevice conditions information module 330. The conditions information caninclude information regarding applications executing on the device, I/Ohealth information such as current connection information (e.g., to andfrom internet protocol (IP) addresses) and connection transfer rates,users presently operating on the physical device as well as diagnosticsinformation generated by any diagnostics tools associated with thephysical device.

When an IT support personnel is actually viewing a device or a pluralityof devices within a data center, an image of the device or devices iseasily obtained and displayed via the display device along withinformation about the conditions of the physical systems being viewed,with the overlay of the information displayed. The combination of theimage of the physical device along with the information about theconditions of the physical systems is referred to as an augmentedreality of the physical systems. Thus, the IT support personnel canapproach a physical device or a plurality of physical devices and obtaindetailed information about the physical system and conditions.

Referring to FIG. 4, a flow chart of the operation of conditionsexamination facilitation module 150 is shown. More specifically, theconditions examination facilitation module 150 starts operation at step410 by defining presentation of the software stacks that are currentlyexecuting on the physical hardware in a virtualized and/or cloudcomputing environment. Next, at step 420, the conditions examinationfacilitation module 150 defines presentation of information regarding aphysical installed hardware environment. Next, at step 430, theconditions examination facilitation module 150 captures, via a cameraassociated with the data processing system images of the physicaldevices to which the camera is directed. In certain embodiments, theimage capture may be substantially continuous. Next, at step 440, theconditions examination facilitation module 150 identifies the physicalmachine being viewed via an identifier (ID) of the physical device, or aquick response (QR) type code which is visible on the physical machine.Next, at step 450, the conditions examination facilitation module 150accesses monitoring software, and obtains data about the status of thephysical device, the applications executing on the physical device, andthe status of those applications. Next, at step 460, in certainembodiments, the conditions examination facilitation module 150determines whether the physical device being viewed is an officiallyregistered end point of the data center pool of assets so that theinformation associated with the physical device can be obtainedregarding internal software stacks. Next, at step 470, the conditionsexamination facilitation module 150 uses this information to render anoverlay over the image of whatever is being observed via the dataprocessing system and displays the data that was obtained

Referring to FIG. 5, an exemplative diagrammatic view of a data centeralong with an overlayed rendering of the data center is shown. Morespecifically, a tablet type data processing system 102 obtains an imageof physical devices located within a data center 510. The conditionsexamination facilitation module 150 provides an overlayed rendering ofthe data center.

It will be apparent to skilled practitioners of the art that many suchcombinations are possible to provide the processing of transactions andthe foregoing is not intended to limit the spirit, scope, or intent ofthe disclosure.

Having thus described the disclosure of the present application indetail and by reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will beapparent that modifications and variations are possible withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosure defined in the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a processor; a data buscoupled to the processor; and a computer-usable medium embodyingcomputer program code, the computer-usable medium being coupled to thedata bus, the computer program code comprising instructions executableby the processor and configured for: defining presentation of softwarestacks executing on physical hardware in a data processing systemenvironment; defining presentation of information regarding a physicalinstalled hardware environment of the data processing systemenvironment; obtaining information in real time about the physicalhardware in the data processing system environment while in proximitywith the physical hardware; identifying the physical hardware based uponthe information about the physical hardware; obtaining conditioninformation regarding physical hardware based upon the identifying; and,overlaying the condition information with images of the physicalhardware, the condition information comprising information associatedwith the physical device regarding the software stacks executing on thephysical hardware.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the identifying isbased upon at least one of an identifier (ID) of the physical device anda quick response (QR) type code of the physical device, the at least oneof the ID of the physical device and the QR type code of the physicaldevice being visible on the physical machine.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein the condition information comprises at least one of informationregarding applications executing on the physical device, input/outputhealth information, users presently operating on the physical device anddiagnostics information generated by any diagnostics tools associatedwith the physical device.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein thecondition information is obtained from monitoring software, themonitoring software monitoring operation of the physical hardware. 5.The system of claim 1, wherein the physical hardware comprises anofficially registered end point of a data center pool of assets.
 6. Anon-transitory computer-usable medium embodying computer program code,the computer program code comprising computer executable instructionsconfigured for: defining presentation of software stacks executing onphysical hardware in a data processing system environment; definingpresentation of information regarding a physical installed hardwareenvironment of the data processing system environment; obtaininginformation in real time about the physical hardware in the dataprocessing system environment while in proximity with the physicalhardware; identifying the physical hardware based upon the informationabout the physical hardware; obtaining condition information regardingphysical hardware based upon the identifying; and, overlaying thecondition information with images of the physical hardware, thecondition information comprising information associated with thephysical device regarding the software stacks executing on the physicalhardware.
 7. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 6,wherein: the identifying is based upon at least one of an identifier(ID) of the physical device and a quick response (QR) type code of thephysical device, the at least one of the ID of the physical device andthe QR type code of the physical device being visible on the physicalmachine.
 8. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 6,wherein the conditions information comprises at least one of informationregarding applications executing on the physical device, input/outputhealth information, users presently operating on the physical device anddiagnostics information generated by any diagnostics tools associatedwith the physical device.
 9. The non-transitory computer-usable mediumof claim 8, wherein the condition information is obtain from monitoringsoftware, the monitoring software monitoring operation of the physicalhardware.
 10. The non-transitory computer-usable medium of claim 6,wherein the physical hardware comprises an officially registered endpoint of a data center pool of assets.